A Woman Ahead of Her Time (pt2)
The last time, we left a young Elizabeth, who had been sent to the countryside, out of sight (and mind) of her father King Henry. King Henry married again for the third time, and his wife Jane Seymour finally gave birth to the son Henry so desperately wanted. When Henry died, his son Edward was crowned King at the tender age of 10. Unfortunately, he was a sickly child and died at the young age of 16. As he died without leaving a male heir, his sister Mary immediately ascended the throne. Mary’s mother had been Queen Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife. Regardless of Henry changing the religious beliefs of an entire nation, Queen Catherine was deeply religious and refused to give up on her faith. And so, Mary was raised in a very Catholic household and believed Catholicism to be the true faith. Mary would also go on to marry King Philip II of Spain, a devout Catholic from a very Catholic country. Therefore, it is easy to see why one of the first changes Mary made as Queen was to reinstate Catholicism in England.
If it had just ended there, it would not have been a problem. However, Queen Mary, with much encouragement from her husband King Philip of Spain, began to seek and publicly punish those who refused to follow the Catholic faith. They were publicly executed and tortured to dissuade and warn others of what would happen if they refused to convert. This is how Mary became known as ‘Bloody Mary,’ and it became a common sight to see public executions being held on the streets of London, all in the name of faith.
Mary was unable to have children which greatly worried her advisors. She miscarried several times, and she had a curious condition where her stomach would swell to an enormous size which misled everyone to believe she was pregnant. This swelling would just as suddenly disappear. At the time, the royal physicians could not diagnose what was wrong with her. Modern doctors think that she displayed many symptoms of someone with uterine cancer. When it became obvious that Mary would probably not live much longer and was also unable to give birth to an heir, her advisors viewed Elizabeth as a threat. While Mary had been raised in the Catholic faith, Elizabeth was raised as an Anglican (as her parent’s marriage was one big factor why Henry left the Catholic Church and declared England Anglican). There was fear of what would happen if Elizabeth ascended the throne since all of Mary’s advisors were Catholic. They worried that she would lead England away from the ‘true faith.’ They urged Mary to have Elizabeth executed, and though Mary was weak and easily manipulated by her Council, in this matter she remained adamant; she refused to execute her half-sister. On November 17, 1558, Mary died, and Elizabeth became Queen of England. This event would have greatly worried those who had held power and favor in Queen Mary and King Philip’s court. What would become of them and the position and power they enjoyed?
